I lived in Utah for 27 years; you would think I would know the answer to this question. I guess it could easily be Utahian... or maybe an ite? How about Utahtite?
Playing catch-up on the blog today, I thought I would wind my year up and finish lose ends. When last I wrote, Michael and I were freezing in the Utah temperatures on account of trying to get to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving. We rolled out of Beaver and drove north through western Utah all the way to Grantsville. I like western Utah for the ride. There are not a lot of services, but no people either. The miles and tarmac rolled out in front of us with occasional cattle crossings and lots of time to relax and think.
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| Western Utah meditation. |
The cold offered challenges, including a light frosting on the bikes and road early morning hour and a constant windchill in the high 20s and low 30s most of the day. We dressed warm and used heated gear. I forgot to pack my heated gloves and suffered a little bit, but luckily Michael had an extra set of glove liners. This and my heated grips took the edge off.
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| Judy pre-helmet head warmth |
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| Michael happy to be on the road in Delta, Utah. |
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We rolled into Grantsville, Utah and parked the bikes at Ron's house. He is storing them for the winter. The plan is to ride to down to Arches in April and spend some time doing a little photo shooting and filming in red rocks in the spring. Just for the blog!
Michael's parents Gene and Arlene fed us lunch (thank you, thank you) and dropped us off at the airport for a rental car. We were able to visit family for a bit. I spent a little time with my mom, uncle, and youngest daughter Linzy.
Back in Utah, without any real beer, the holiday season upon us, and being in Utah... left us with the unfortunate task of trying to get wine and beer for the holiday dinner... let me say it again... in Utah. This was not something we were looking forward to. I still can't figure out why they need to make it so difficult to get wine and beer. If we were having dinner in Seattle with my other daughter Nikole, in the words of her friend Mandy... "we could get stoned and marry a lesbian" (gosh that sounds like a great blog title.... maybe when I visit her this spring)... but NOOOO here we are standing in a long-ass line for wine for Thanksgiving Dinner.... Let's GIVE THANKS:
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| Getting "whine" in Utah |
Linzy and Ryan had us over for a wonderful vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner... so many dishes and so much food! It was wonderful... Linzy has become quite the cook!
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| Quinoa and bean stuffed peppers |
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| Yogurt - granola -strawberry parfait Santas |
I got a flight back to Alaska the next morning. Michael hung around for a couple of days visiting, then flew to New York to spend a week with a friend. He then flew up to Alaska, putting his feet back in the snow after several years in the sand of Arizona. He showed up without a coat... it was -14 outside.
